Primary tabs

Gloria A. DowneyDirector / Directing Dept., Producer / Producing Dept.I was born to a life of impossibility, heartbreak and hopelessness but, I always knew I would escape. My signature motivation - a profound sense of justice was born with me. A witness to the crimes of poverty and hatred, both against me and all those around me, I clawed my way to becoming a lawyer. I began as a Public Defender, often fighting for the deplorable in the name of the Constitution. In pursuit of greater justice, and with awareness of the world’s evils, I joined the Air Force, spending seven years as a distinguished officer, litigator, teacher and warrior.

In 2007, I was truly in shock and awe when I deployed to Iraq to “serve” in a war that itself was a crime. I volunteered for the most dangerous of the available positions because I was told this was the path to delivering the most justice - but the truth was the exact opposite. I was really a pawn in a sham court system, set up to detract from the crimes committed against the detainees at Abu Ghraib. In this position, I experienced many life-changing events: I felt the Earth shake through me as a man wearing a bomb, praying to God, blew himself through a market, killing 150 people in an instant; I led a makeshift team through the blood trail of our fallen bodyguard after a mortar attack on our courthouse; I prosecuted “terrorists,” heard their explanations and put them on death row; and I pondered daily the unimaginable horror endured by the people of Baghdad during our notorious campaign of “Shock and Awe.”

The profound physical and emotional injuries I received in Iraq rendered any “normal” life impossible for me. After years of teetering on the brink of destruction and hopelessness, I have forged a new mission: to bring stories to the screen as if they were cases I am prosecuting, thereby exposing as many people as possible to the reality of the wars fought in our names. I intend to investigate facts and weave individual stories into them so that my audiences will feel as the victims I represent must have. I will present evidence both in narrative and documentary style, so that viewers will see their roles in what has been done, by whom and why. I will then give them a clear course of action: something they can do now to face the actions of the past, stand against them in the present and compel them toward ensuring a more just future.

Despite our great intentions, ambitions and dreams, ours is a criminal and reprehensible history of slavery, slaughter, genocide, theft, rape, imprisonment, torture, greed and terror – for, I assure you, there are few things more terrifying than having American Airpower rain down on your city for days on end, or having your skin set ablaze by Napalm, or being indiscriminately mowed down in a homicidal frenzy of Hotchkiss guns…

We MUST acknowledge and do whatever we can to make right our many sins against each other if we are ever to truly heal this Nation and world. It is my most fervent hope that, in telling the dark side of the American story, while suggesting good and righteous possible courses of remediation and action, we can forge a future that truly guarantees, by actually delivering - Life, Liberty and Justice – to ALL of us.Find Gloria on

Gloria A. Downey[field_industry_profession]<p>I was born to a life of impossibility, heartbreak and hopelessness but, I always knew I would escape. &nbsp;My signature motivation - a profound sense of justice was born with me. &nbsp;A witness to the crimes of poverty and hatred, both against me and all those around me, I clawed my way to becoming a lawyer. &nbsp;I began as a Public Defender, often fighting for the deplorable in the name of the Constitution. &nbsp;In pursuit of greater justice, and with awareness of the world’s evils, I joined the Air Force, spending seven years as a distinguished officer, litigator, teacher and warrior.</p><p>In 2007, I was truly in shock and awe when I deployed to Iraq to “serve” in a war that itself was a crime. &nbsp;I volunteered for the most dangerous of the available positions because I was told this was the path to delivering the most justice - but the truth was the exact opposite. I was really a pawn in a sham court system, set up to detract from the crimes committed against the detainees at Abu Ghraib.&nbsp; In this position, I experienced many life-changing events: I felt the Earth shake through me as a man wearing a bomb, praying to God, blew himself through a market, killing 150 people in an instant; I led a makeshift team through the blood trail of our fallen bodyguard after a mortar attack on our courthouse; I prosecuted “terrorists,” heard their explanations and put them on death row; and I pondered daily the unimaginable horror endured by the <em>people </em>of Baghdad during our notorious campaign of “Shock and Awe.”</p><p>The profound physical and emotional injuries I received in Iraq rendered any “normal” life impossible for me. After years of teetering on the brink of destruction and hopelessness, I have forged a new mission: to bring stories to the screen as if they were cases I am prosecuting, thereby exposing as many people as possible to the reality of the wars fought in our names. &nbsp;I intend to investigate facts and weave individual stories into them so that my audiences will <em>feel </em>as the victims I represent must have. I will present evidence both in narrative and documentary style, so that viewers will see their roles in what has been done, by whom and why. I will then give them a clear course of action: something they can <em>do now </em>to face the actions of the past, stand against them in the present and compel them toward ensuring a more just future.</p><p>Despite our great intentions, ambitions and dreams, ours is a criminal and reprehensible history of slavery, slaughter, genocide, theft, rape, imprisonment, torture, greed and <em>terror – </em>for, I assure you, there are few things more terrifying than having American Airpower rain down on your city for days on end, or having your skin set ablaze by Napalm, or being indiscriminately mowed down in a homicidal frenzy of Hotchkiss guns… &nbsp;</p><p>We MUST acknowledge and do whatever we can to make right our many sins against each other if we are ever to truly heal this Nation and world. It is my most fervent hope that, in telling the dark side of the American story, while suggesting good and righteous possible courses of remediation and action, we can forge a future that truly guarantees, by actually delivering - <br /> Life, Liberty and Justice – to ALL of us.</p>Find Gloria on